NORTIV 8 waterproof hiking boots review: the £45 entry point that actually works

The NORTIV 8 waterproof hiking boots are the budget pick in our boots category, and the case for them is simple. They cost £40 to £50, they sell in enormous numbers, and they carry nearly 25,000 Amazon reviews. At that price they are not competing with a Salomon or a Merrell, and they do not need to. They are competing with the decision to not buy hiking boots at all, and against that they win comfortably.

For the money, the performance is the story. Amazon customer feedback consistently describes them as well made, sturdy and lightweight, with a fit that needs no break-in period, and owners repeatedly call them a good alternative to more expensive brands. That is exactly the brief for a first boot, and it is why they are the entry point I point people at when £100-plus is off the table.

Who the NORTIV 8 is for

The NORTIV 8 is for the walker who wants an ankle-high waterproof boot at the lowest sensible price. If you are new to hiking, not yet sure how many miles a year you will actually cover, or buying boots for occasional use, coast path days, dog walks in the mud, a few weekends a year, this is the smart place to start. Spending £150 on a boot before you know you will use it is the expensive mistake. Spending £45 to find out is not.

They also make sense as a beater pair. Plenty of experienced hikers keep a cheap, comfortable boot for muddy local loops and festival fields, saving the serious pair for serious days.

Who should look elsewhere? Anyone whose walking is regular, long or committed enough that a wet foot two hours from the car is a real problem, and anyone who wants a boot to last years of hard use. The Amazon feedback is mixed on exactly those two points, waterproofing and durability, and I will get into both below. For that walker the Merrell Moab 3 Mid WP or the Salomon X Ultra 360 Leather Mid GTX is where the money should go.

What nearly 25,000 reviews tell you

Nearly 25,000 reviews is a serious sample. At that volume the pattern in the feedback is worth more than any single tester's opinion, because it averages out the lucky pairs, the unlucky pairs and the people who bought the wrong size.

The pattern is clear. Amazon's customer summary says buyers find the boots well made, sturdy and lightweight, with a nice fit that requires no break-in period. They rate the value for money highly, consider them a good alternative to more expensive brands, and like how they look, with owners noting they still look like new after extended use.

The two areas where the feedback splits are water resistance and durability. Some owners find them properly waterproof, others report their feet getting wet. Some find them built to last, others report them falling apart. Neither of those splits is unusual for a boot at this price, and neither undoes the value case, but both matter for deciding whether this is your boot or your first boot.

The practical read on all of it: comfort, fit, weight and looks are consistent strengths across a huge number of buyers. Waterproofing and longevity are a coin you might have to flip. Price that in and the NORTIV 8 is a very good deal. Ignore it and you might end up disappointed on a wet December walk.

Fit and comfort

Comfort is the strongest thread in the ownership feedback. Buyers consistently describe a nice fit with no break-in period, which is a real advantage over the stiff budget boots of old that needed weeks of blisters before they gave in. For a beginner, a boot that is comfortable from the first walk removes the single most common reason new hikers give up on boots altogether.

The lightweight build helps here too. A heavy boot punishes you on every step of a long day, and owners repeatedly flag the NORTIV 8 as light for what it is. Light and comfortable out of the box is exactly what you want from a boot you will mostly wear on day walks and moderate trails.

Sizing is well served. These sell in loads of colours and loads of sizes, so most feet and most tastes are covered, which is not always true at the budget end of the market. As with any boot bought online, order your usual size, try them indoors with the socks you will actually hike in, and send them back if the fit is off.

The waterproofing question

This is where you need to buy with your eyes open. The Amazon feedback on water resistance is mixed. Some owners find the boots properly waterproof and stay dry. Others report their feet getting wet.

That split is the difference between a £45 boot and a £150 one, and it is worth understanding rather than glossing over. At the budget end, waterproofing tends to be less consistent from pair to pair and less durable over time than a boot built around a proven membrane like GORE-TEX. Some pairs seal well, some do not, and the protection you have on day one is not guaranteed to be the protection you have after a winter of wet miles.

For the use this boot is built for, that is often fine. Wet grass, light rain, damp paths and the ordinary run of British dampness are a different demand from standing water, saturated bog and a full day of sideways rain on an exposed hill. If your walking lives at the milder end of that scale, the odds are in your favour. If dry feet are non-negotiable, deep winter, boggy ground, long days far from the car, then guaranteed waterproofing is precisely what the extra money buys, and the Salomon X Ultra 360 Leather Mid GTX with its GORE-TEX lining is the boot that delivers it.

Durability, and what £45 buys

The durability feedback follows the same shape. Some owners find the NORTIV 8 built to last and note the boots look like new even after extended use. Others report them falling apart.

Again, that is the budget trade stated plainly. At £40 to £50 the materials and construction cannot match a boot costing three times as much, and across tens of thousands of pairs some will fail early. The consistent praise for build quality suggests most do not, and for occasional and moderate use a pair that lasts a few seasons at this price is money well spent. Even a shorter lifespan than a premium boot still works out as a fair cost per mile for the walker who is out a couple of times a month.

Where it stops making sense is heavy, regular use. If you are covering serious mileage every week, the maths flips: a £110 to £155 boot that shrugs off years of abuse beats replacing a £45 boot repeatedly, and it never lets you down mid-season.

The Karrimor Bodmin alternative

The other boot in this price bracket worth your attention is the Karrimor Bodmin Weathertite, at around £45 with 13,000 Amazon reviews at 4.4 stars. Karrimor is a name UK walkers know, and the Bodmin has been the default cheap British hiking boot for years.

The ownership feedback runs remarkably close to the NORTIV 8's. Amazon's customer summary has buyers calling them excellent quality for the price, comfortable with no blisters or rubbing, and sturdily built, with one owner describing them as feeling built to get trashed. The splits are familiar too: some report no signs of wear while others mention soles starting to fall apart, and opinions on water resistance divide between those who find them very waterproof and those who say they are not. Sizing draws disagreement as well, with some finding plenty of width and others finding them too narrow.

The read is the same as the NORTIV 8's. A good entry point, good for local walks, muddy paths and casual use, and strong value at £45. Just do not make them out to be what they are not. Neither boot at this price is a guarantee of dry feet or a decade of service, and buying either one expecting that is how a bargain turns into a complaint. Buy them as what they are, a cheap, comfortable, sturdy starter boot, and both deliver.

Between the two, the NORTIV 8 gets our budget pick on the strength of its review volume and the breadth of colours and sizes on offer, but the Bodmin is a fair shout if the fit or the price on the day suits you better.

The upgrade path

Here is the way to think about the NORTIV 8 in the long run. It is the boot that gets you onto the trail. It is not the boot that keeps you there for a decade.

When you are ready to invest in a more serious pair, be clear about what the extra money actually buys, because it is not marketing. It buys two things the budget feedback is mixed on: guaranteed dry feet after extensive use, and a boot built to last. A proven membrane that seals reliably pair after pair and season after season, and construction that holds together through years of hard miles rather than a hopeful few.

Two boots cover that upgrade for most UK walkers. The Merrell Moab 3 Mid WP at around £110 is the well-built all-rounder, an easy step up with a fit that works for a wide range of feet. The Salomon X Ultra 360 Leather Mid GTX at around £155 is the boot I wear myself through British winters, light, GORE-TEX lined and proven in exactly the wet conditions where budget waterproofing gets found out.

Both sit alongside the NORTIV 8 in the best hiking boots UK 2026 guide, which compares the full field if you want to weigh the whole market at once.

Pros and cons

• Outstanding value at £40 to £50, the cheapest sensible route into hiking boots
• Nearly 25,000 Amazon reviews, with a consistent pattern of praise
• Well made, sturdy and lightweight according to owner feedback
• Nice fit with no break-in period reported by buyers
• Owners like the looks, noting they stay looking like new after extended use
• Loads of colours and loads of sizes available

• Waterproofing feedback is mixed: some owners stay dry, others report wet feet
• Durability feedback is mixed: some pairs last well, others fall apart
• Not the boot for heavy, regular mileage or committed winter walking
• No guaranteed membrane performance in the way a GORE-TEX boot offers

Verdict

The NORTIV 8 waterproof hiking boots are the best budget hiking boots on Amazon UK for one reason: they deliver where a first boot has to. Comfort with no break-in, a light and sturdy build, a fit and colour range that covers almost everyone, and a price that makes the decision easy. Nearly 25,000 reviews of largely happy owners is not a fluke, it is a boot doing its job for a huge number of people at £45.

Judge them against that brief and they earn the 4.3. Judge them as an all-weather, all-mileage boot and they fall short, because the waterproofing and durability feedback is split in a way a premium boot's is not. That is the trade, and as long as you make it knowingly, it is a good one.

Buy the NORTIV 8 to get started, or to have a cheap pair for the muddy stuff. When the miles stack up and dry feet stop being optional, put the money into a Merrell Moab 3 or a Salomon X Ultra 360 and keep these for the local loops.

Rating: 4.3 / 5

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